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Apple Filed Patent for Flexible Wrist Display

By Nick Bilton February 21, 2013 5:55 pmFebruary 21, 2013 5:55 pm

Photo

A patent filed by Apple with The United States Patent and Trademark Office showcases a bendable watch that can wrap around the wrist.Credit AppleInsider via The United States Patent and Trademark Office

Forget sticking a fancy Apple television on your wall. It looks like we may be able to strap a display to our wrists in the not-too-distant future.

On Thursday, the Apple technology blog Apple Insider discovered that Apple filed a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in August 2011 for a flexible watchlike device that could wrap around someone’s wrist using a fully bendable display.

The blog likens the watch to “the slap bracelet, also called the slap wrap.”

The patent application puts it differently. “With a touch screen user input, a user can accomplish a number of different tasks including adjusting the order of a current playlist, and reviewing a list of recent phone calls,” the Apple patent notes. “A response to a current text message can even be managed given a simple virtual keyboard configuration across the face of the flexible display.”

In other words, the iWatch could be a smartphone stuffed into a wrist device. It is unclear if the device would come with a full data connection, or if it would require a link to a smartphone.

Based on the patent filing, it seems as if the gadget could become a bendable watch or a flat and rigid display.

Experts have long believed that the biggest barrier for mainstream adoption of wearable computers won’t be the challenges of making screens that can curve, but rather creating longer-lasting batteries. But Apple seems to be taking that into consideration, too.

“A solar panel array spread across a surface of the accessory device can lengthen the amount of time the accessory device could be operated between recharging,” the patent filing notes.

“People don’t want to take off a wearable computer to constantly charge it,” explained Sarah Rotman Epps, a Forrester analyst who specializes in wearable computing and smartphones.

Correction: February 22, 2013An earlier version of the online summary with this post misstated the time when Apple filed a patent application for a watchlike device that could wrap around someone's wrist. The application was filed in August 2011, not on Thursday. The technology blog Apple Insider reported the filing on Thursday.